Nnamdi Asomugha

On the day the NFL's free-agent market opened, the Eagles released cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, one of the most heralded free-agent signings in franchise history. Asomugha, who played two seasons in Philadelphia, was scheduled to receive a base salary of $15 million this season, with $4 million guaranteed. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman met with Ben Dogra, Asomugha's agent, at the scouting combine last month. The sides could not agree on a restructured deal. Roseman said Tuesday that the Eagles had thought over this decision for the last two weeks.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Nnamdi Asomugha was benched in the fourth quarter of the Eagles' 42-7 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday, ending his disappointing season. Asomugha said he hopes to return to the Eagles in 2013 and did not interpret the benching as a sign that the Eagles do not want him back. "I think that was just a matter of [defensive coordinator Todd Bowles] saying, 'You come out for this series and get it together,' as opposed to, 'We're done,' " Asomugha said.

INDIANAPOLIS - Conclusions should not be drawn from Chip Kelly's and Howie Roseman's lukewarm endorsement of Nnamdi Asomugha on Thursday at the NFL scouting combine. Neither the Eagles coach nor the general manager came out and said he had no interest in keeping the 31-year-old cornerback - even at his $15.5 million salary. But the Eagles' brain trust - especially Kelly, who has already lavished praise on certain players - gave little indication that Asomugha will be part of the team's plans moving forward.

This year was supposed to be different for Nnamdi Asomugha. The star cornerback, who has won all manner of individual honors in his eight professional seasons but has never reached the NFL playoffs, joined a team with every expectation of playing meaningful games into the winter. Instead, the Eagles are 3-5 and on the brink of losing any realistic postseason hope before Thanksgiving. The situation is not lost on Asomugha. "We've got to start winning. There's no way of sugarcoating that or make it seem like it's OK to lose a couple here and there; none of that is acceptable at this point.

INDIANAPOLIS - Like Michael Vick, there once was a time when it seemed implausible that Nnamdi Asomugha would play for the 2013 Eagles. The former all-pro cornerback, with even the most positive of reviews, has been average since the Eagles signed him to a five-year, $60 million contract in July of 2011. Asomugha, in the end, will make considerably less than that number when the Eagles finally decide to release him. But a parting of ways may have to wait a year because the contract that keeps taking will take at least another $4 million from Jeffrey Lurie's coffers.

MIKE PATTERSON. Cullen Jenkins. And there will be more. Roster carnage is the only certainty when an NFL team fires an underperforming coach. Andy Reid goes, Chip Kelly arrives, the vision of the entire Eagles organization changes and the world is again reminded that those 8-year contracts signed by NFL players are really a series of eight, 1-year contracts. And don't forget to write. With that, a word here about cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha: He needs to go - for his sake, and Kelly's sake, and everyone's.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Nnamdi Asomugha was benched in the fourth quarter of the Eagles' 42-7 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday, ending his disappointing season. Asomugha said he hopes to return to the Eagles in 2013 and did not interpret the benching as a sign that the Eagles do not want him back. "I think that was just a matter of [defensive coordinator Todd Bowles] saying, 'You come out for this series and get it together,' as opposed to, 'We're done,' " Asomugha said.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Nnamdi Asomugha missed practice one day after he collided with Nate Allen in one of the most violent moments at Eagles training camp. The cornerback did not have any concussion symptoms, did not lose consciousness, and was suffering from only whiplash symptoms and a lacerated lip, coach Andy Reid said Tuesday. "He was completely conscious the whole time," Reid said before he held his final practice at Lehigh University. "But he did get a pretty good laceration to his lip and his back of his neck is a little bit sore.

Sixteen months into Nnamdi Asomugha's tenure with the Eagles, the oft-criticized former Pro Bowl cornerback admitted his experience is "not even close" to what he anticipated when he signed a five-year, $60 million contract with the Eagles in July 2011. He thought he was joining a contender, but the Eagles are 11-15 since he signed, and Asomugha is on pace to continue a career-long postseason drought. Because of his contract and his previous status as one of the NFL's elite cornerbacks, Asomugha has seen his play come under scrutiny.

On the day the NFL's free-agent market opened, the Eagles released cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, one of the most heralded free-agent signings in franchise history. Asomugha, who played two seasons in Philadelphia, was scheduled to receive a base salary of $15 million this season, with $4 million guaranteed. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman met with Ben Dogra, Asomugha's agent, at the scouting combine last month. The sides could not agree on a restructured deal. Roseman said Tuesday that the Eagles had thought over this decision for the last two weeks.

The Eagles listed Bradley Fletcher as questionable for Sunday's game against the New York Giants, but what is without question is that the cornerback will not return next season. He may not be the only starter from the Eagles' beleaguered secondary headed for an exit. Safety Nate Allen's contract will also expire in the offseason. Cornerback Cary Williams has one year left on his deal, but all of his salary for 2015 isn't guaranteed. The Eagles could opt to move on from both their outside cornerbacks as they did two offseasons ago when Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie weren't brought back.

IF A PICTURE is worth a thousand words, then a living, breathing example is the equivalent of a dictionary. Since 2006, recently retired NFL cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha has taken high-achieving but at-risk high school students from underprivileged areas on tours of colleges across America, through his Asomugha College Tours for Scholars (ACTS) program. And while he has had incredible success, with each of the more than 130 participants going on to pursue higher education, each new session of the annual program is like starting from scratch.

ATLANTIC CITY - If you want to know why the Eagles didn't sign high-priced, possible future Hall of Fame players such as Darrelle Revis, DeMarcus Ware, and Jairus Byrd, the answer was on the field last season. Chip Kelly has a system, and within the confines of the NFL salary cap, he and general manager Howie Roseman have spent the last two offseasons spearheading an effort to fill structured needs. Do Kelly and Roseman consider Revis, Ware, and Byrd great players? You bet they do. Do they think the three players would reach their full potential within the confines of the Eagles' defensive scheme?

AS WE ALL pretend to be happy/sad/ecstatic/outraged about the Eagles' latest free-agent signing, it might be time to acknowledge that while Malcolm Jenkins is easier to spell than Nnamdi Asomugha, his future is no easier to divine. The truth happens from September to January. The truth wears pads. And all of the happy/sad/ecstatic/outraged reaction in the world does not alter that reality. His resumé suggests he is an improvement over the dearly departed Patrick Chung. Jenkins is known as a leader-type, and as someone who takes the work of his charitable foundation seriously.

The Eagles begin free agency in a familiar position: with money to spend and with holes to fill. The Eagles don't want to build their team in March, but financial flexibility and an aggressive approach is how the team signed Jevon Kearse and acquired Terrell Owens in 2004. It was also the impetus to get Nnamdi Asomugha and Jason Babin to headline their ill-fated 2011 free-agent class. General manager Howie Roseman insists that the Eagles will not approach the offseason thinking they're a player or two away from title contention.

ON THE SURFACE, it seems like a marriage made in free-agency heaven. The Eagles, as you may have heard, need a ball-hawking cover safety. And as luck would have it, Jairus Byrd, one of the league's very best ball-hawking cover safeties, is expected to be available on Tuesday when the 2014 free-agent signing period commences. Byrd, 27, wants ridiculous money. He's reportedly looking for a deal that will pay him in excess of $9 million a year. But the Eagles have more than enough salary-cap room - $24.1 million - to accommodate him. Chip Kelly also knows the guy pretty well.

THE CAUTIOUS route the Eagles were expected to steer through free agency might have gotten jolted off course yesterday. It was easier for general manager Howie Roseman to talk about not overpaying and looking for midlevel value back when it seemed the top two safeties on the market, Buffalo's Jairus Byrd and Cleveland's T.J. Ward, would either be tagged or signed by their current teams. That was the buzz when the NFL convened for the scouting combine a few weeks back, and it seemed the most likely outcome almost right up to the point when it failed to happen, with the deadline for franchise and transition tagging passing at 4 p.m. yesterday.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Eagles remain haunted by their 2011 free-agent spending spree, when they handed out big contracts with little return. They took a more tempered approach the last two seasons. Even when pursuing free agents to help rebuild the roster last winter, the Eagles did not hand out burdensome contracts. General manager Howie Roseman, however, said the team is still willing to spend big money as it did with Nnamdi Asomugha and Jevon Kearse if the player's talent, age, position, scheme fit, and makeup all match what the team desires.

HOLLIS THOMAS played defensive tackle for the Eagles at 300 pounds, so sticks and stones wouldn't put a dent in him. Words? Spitballs off a battleship! So, go ahead and call him a sore loser. Tell him he's up to his eyeballs in sour grapes when he yelps about Super Bowl XXXIX, Patriots 24, Eagles 21. "Sore loser?" Thomas barks angrily. "We got cheated! It's not sour grapes. We got cheated!" Ten years later, time wounds all heels, and Thomas can't hide his disdain for Bill Belichick, the grumpy coach of the Patriots.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie may retire from football if the Denver Broncos win Sunday's Super Bowl. In Philadelphia, Eagles fans are joking, "Didn't he retire two years ago?" But the former Eagles cornerback wasn't kidding about calling it quits even though he's coming off arguably the best season of his career, is still only 27 years old and will likely have multiple suitors when he hits free agency in March. "Coming out of college I gave myself a five-year goal," Rodgers-Cromartie said Monday.